Djurgårdens go top

Djurgårdens won their game in hand to leapfrog Malmo into top spot of the Allsvenskan after a narrow 2-1 win against Häcken.

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— Djurgården Fotboll (@DIF_Fotboll) August 1, 2021

It was their third win in a row and their ninth of the season that puts them a point clear at the top of the table after just under half of the season.

The match

The hosts nearly made the perfect start after just two minutes when forward Haris Radetinac burst down the left and pulled the ball back for Hampus Finndell but his sidefoot volley was tame and straight at the goalkeeper.

Radetinac was a threat and he tested the palms of Peter Abrahamsson with a stinging shot from distance.

It was proving difficult for the side from Stockholm but they were dealt a slice of fortune at the beginning of the second half when Aslak Fonn Witry’s shot across goal was inadvertenly turned in by Tobias Carlsson.

That was not the only own-goal of the game. Just nine minutes later, Häcken levelled things up to shock the home crowd.

Nasiru Mohammed played a through-ball, looking for Leo Bengtsson but his pass was intercepted by Fonn-Witry. However, his touch wrong-footed Jacob Widell Zetterström and sent the ball into the net. The defender went from hero to zero after he scored the winner last weekend against Kalmar.

The visitors grew in confidence and substitute Daleho Irandust’s powerful shot from distance was well kept-out by Zetterström.

But Djurgårdens have shown this season that they can grind out wins and they proved it again. In the 64th minute a scramble in the penalty area led to the ball falling for Jacob Une Larsson, who slotted the ball home.

They should have then killed off the game in the next few minutes but Abrahamasson was in top form and made a series of superb saves.

Radetinac missed a sitter when he blazed over with the goal gaping.

There was drama in stoppage time as Häcken threw everything at Djurgårdens in search of an equaliser and were only denied by substitute Jesper Nyholm clearing off the line and stabbing the ball away from goal.

What does it mean?

Joint-managers Kim Bergstrand and Thomas Lagerlöf could finally relax at the final whistle as their side held on to go above Malmo into first place. They have lost just once this season and conceded only eight goals.

Häcken’s sit eighth in the table after their first defeat in five games.

Other results

Elsewhere, Hammarby were held to a 1-1 draw by Östersunds. It extended Hammarby’s unbeaten record to eight games but meant they lost an opportunity to go third.

Mjällby were beaten for the fifth consecutive game; falling to a 1-0 defeat to Kalmar.